By Barani Krishnan NEW YORK, May 15 (Reuters) - Brent crude oil closed up forthe first time in four sessions on Wednesday, spurred by a rallyin U.S. stocks, but copper and gold extended their losses as thedollar's strength continued to weigh on various commoditiespriced in the currency. Raw sugar plumbed lows unseen in nearly three yearswhile arabica coffee fell to a one-week low as tradersfeared more production in the two crops due to improving weatherin top grower Brazil. In wheat, futures hit a two-week low in reaction tothe stronger dollar, technical selling and lackluster exports.Soybean and corn prices fell too. The broad decline caused the 19-commodity ThomsonReuters-Jefferies CRB index to close down nearly halfa percent for a second straight session. Fifteen of the CRB's 19components ended in the red, with natural gas andgasoline bucking the trend by rising about 1 percenteach. The dollar hit a six-week high against the euro as datashowing an unexpectedly large contraction of the euro zoneeconomy raised expectations for more monetary easing by theEuropean Central Bank. The dollar had rallied against othermajor currencies since late last week, making dollar-denominatedraw materials costlier to holders of other currencies. Oil was one of the few commodities to follow the rally inequities as both the Dow Jones and S&P 500 indexes for U.S. stocks hit new highs. "Over the past several days, it seems that theequity/commodity divergence is coming into full view once again,with equity markets surging to record highs just as mostcommodity prices are beating a hasty retreat," Edward Meir, ametals-focused analyst at INTL FC Stone, said in a commentary. The benchmark Brent crude oil out of Europe's North Sea closed up $1.08 at $103.68 a barrel after falling to$101.20 earlier in the day. New York-traded U.S. crude edged up 9 cents to settleat $94.30 a barrel. The stock market rally aside, oil prices were propped up bynews that talks had stalled between the United Nations' nuclearagency and Iran over Tehran's suspected atomic bomb research.

Copper went into negative territory after data showedGermany's economy managed a surprisingly weak growth in thefirst quarter of the year, after a sharp contraction at the endof 2012, while France slipped into recession. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange ended at $7,198 a tonne, down from Tuesday's close of $7,245,having earlier hit its lowest since May 3 at $7,101. Gold fell for a fifth straight session for its longest dailylosing streak since January 2011. It slid below $1,400 an ounce,losing 2 percent, and hit its lowest in nearly a month as therecord rally in U.S. equities and economic optimism underminedthe safe-haven appeal in bullion. Spot gold dropped as much as 2.5 percent to$1,390.24, its lowest since April 19. It was down 2 percent ataround $1,391 an ounce by 5:00 p.m. EDT (2100 GMT).